Music Memories during my 3rd Year. From my 2nd Birthday on Wednesday, the 20th of February 1974, through to Wednesday, the 19th of February 1975
Elton John
Lucy In The Sky With Diamonds
Charting in the year of 1974, on the 17th of November, is Elton John with the single Lucy In The Sky With Diamonds.
I’ve now reached,..
…that moment, when I can now fully explain how I came to discover the Beatles in the most indirect way. In fact, it was probably so indirect, that I didn’t even realise it at this time.
As I’ve mentioned in a recent similar post, my sister Susan had a couple of those budget Top of the Pops albums; and where that other post references the former of the two, this post mentions the latter.
So, unless I heard this single on either the radio, or the TV, then it initially would have been the ‘unofficial’ version which I would have heard coming from Susan’s small red record player. Even so, it was a pretty half-decent representation of Elton’s reinterpreted cover, of the Beatles’ original classic, for me to grow fond of enough to stick it in my memory banks for good.
It was primarily,..
…the words which reeled me in. My imagination going into its own place and picturing everything which John Lennon had written just over seven years before (and who now contributes guitar and backing vocals to this re-imagining of his own composition). Then, it would have been the music which swept over me, this time not the Beatles’ original version, but Elton’s new prog-rock-type take.
This new rendition,..
…seemed to expand the narrative and, not just fly with it, but make it soar. I can still remember that feeling after the instrumental break, which takes the track to a whole new level, as if I was flying in that marmalade sky over all these hallucinatory images. The tangerine trees, the big flowers. The newspaper taxis appearing on the shoreline of a multi-coloured psychedelic world, waiting to take me away, with my head in the clouds.
And at the centre of it all, that sight of the girl called Lucy, with the kaleidoscope eyes who always seemed just out of reach. I wasn’t even 3-years-old but I took the whole imaginary world in like a sponge, and loved every moment of it.
The single…
…floats into the chart at No.34, on the 17th of November 1974, and wanders into the Top 20 the following week at No.18. As December dawns, so the song climbs, first to No.15, and then another 5 places, hitting the Top 10, and where it also reaches its zenith.
From there,..
…the single drops a place back to No.11, where it sits for two straight weeks, before falling gently downwards through the Top 20 once more as the end of the year crosses into a new one, where it eventually drifts out of the chart for good after the 25th of January 1975, with a shimmering trail of 10 weeks to show for it.
The “A” Side
The “B” Side
“Top Of The Pops” TV Appearance
“Old Grey Whistle Test” Live Performance
TV Appearance.
Audio Only Live Performance featuring John Lennon
Many thanks go to the following YouTube Channels for providing the chance to hear these songs and watch the footage once again.
Please show your appreciation by visiting their channels:
Grab Your Binoculars, Come Follow Me
My Socials
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